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Moonrunners
"You take a load of 200 proof corn liquor through a Georgia roadblock at 100 miles an hour and if you ain't a dead man, you're a moonrunner." 'Moonrunners' is a 1975 film, and the precursor to ''The Dukes of Hazzard television series. The film was written and directed by Gy Waldron, based on the life and stories of Jerry Rushing. __TOC__ Plot The story is narrated by the Balladeer (Waylon Jennings), who introduces and comments on the story of cousins, Grady and Bobby Lee Hagg, who run bootleg liquor for their Uncle Jesse of Shiloh County. Uncle Jesse is a Baptist, who knows the Bible better than the local preacher. He has been a widower since Aunt Libby died ten years ago. He still makes liquor, according to his "granddaddy's granddaddy's" recipe, in stills named Molly and Beulah. Every drop is aged two years, and bottled in glass (never plastic). The Haggs have been making their recipe since before the Revolutionary War, and Jesse only sells to a friend in nearby Florence to ensure that his liquor is never blended with any other. Bobby Lee (also called just Lee) is a smart-mouthed schemer, named for the Confederate general, Robert E. Lee. In the opening, Bobby Lee gets tossed in the Pikkens County jail for a bar fight at the Boar's Nest. On his way home he helps out Beth Ann Eubanks, who is on the run from family trouble in Mississippi. Uncle Jesse takes her in, and Lee courts her. Grady is a laconic "Romeo" who drives their stockcar (#54, named Traveller after General Lee's horse Traveller). It is briefly mentioned that Grady probably has a number of kids around Shiloh and Tennessee. (In the pilot episode of ''The Dukes of Hazzard, "One Armed Bandits", the cousins only half-joke when they wonder if any of the kids in an orphanage are theirs, and this concept was quickly dropped.) The cousins take Beth to the next race at the local track. The other stockcar drivers include good ol' boy Zeebo, and Zeebo's lackey Cooter Pettigrew. Zeebo (driving #31) and Cooter (driving #28) team-up to beat Grady in the race, leading to a moonlit bootlegger road race between Bobby Lee and Zeebo. The county boss is Jake Rainey, a friend of Jesse's from the old days (they both bootlegged for Jesse's father in 1934), who owns the local bar/brothel. Jake has control of all the other moonshine in the county, and sells it to the New York Syndicate (mob). He needs Jesse's supply to fill an order, but Jesse will not sell to Jake since Jake would mix it with lesser quality liquor. To get at Jesse’s supply, Jake uses Sheriff Rosco Coltrane, to harass the cousins. At the same time he uses Zeebo, and Reba (Jake’s wife who is having an affair with Grady) to goad the boys into a trap. During these events, Uncle Jesse calls Jake “hog” (making Jake “Boss Hogg”) as a put-down. In later retaliation, the cousins use a bow with explosive arrows since they are on probation, and cannot own guns. Characters Main characters * Uncle Jesse Hagg (Arthur Hunnicutt) * Grady Hagg (James Mitchum) * Bobby Lee Hagg (Kiel Martin) * Beth Ann Eubanks (Chris Forbes) * Boss Jake Rainey (George Ellis) * Reba Rainey (Joan Blackman) * Zeebo (Pete Munro) * The Balladeer (Waylon Jennings) Minor Characters * Sheriff Rosco Coltrane (Bruce Atkins) * Luther, short deputy sheriff (John Chappell) * Cooter Pettigrew (Bill Gribble) * Cooter's brother (Phil Pleasants) * Tiny, Syndicate man (Happy Humphery) * Syndicate Men * Federal Agent in charge (Bill Moses) * Fred, Chicago Federal Agent (Ben Jones) * Roy Adderholt (Bob Hannah) * Precious, Jake Rainey's bartender (Elaine 'Spanky' McFarlane) * Minister (James Beard) * Bodyguard for Jake Rainey (Jerry Rushing) * Traveller, the Hagg's stockcar * Uncle Jesse's mule, Beauregard See also the character correspondencies between the Moonrunners film and The Dukes of Hazzard TV series. Connections to The Dukes of Hazzard A number of names, places and situations went from the film Moonrunners to the series The Dukes of Hazzard with little or no alteration. White, Bryan (June 26, 2008). "Just the good ol’ boys. Never meanin’ no harm. Moonrunners".Holland, Jon (2009). "Dukes Historian"."Moonrunners Review". StarPulse.com. * Waylon Jennings is the "Balladeer" in both film and series. * The Boar's Nest is a tavern in the film and the series. * Although the crude elements are much toned down for the TV series, the relationship between cousins Bo and Luke Duke is much the same as cousins Bobby Lee and Grady in Moonrunners. * Both feature a corrupt county boss (Jake Rainey/Boss Hogg) who used to run moonshine with his old friend Uncle Jesse. In both, the county boss now owns the local tavern and many local businesses, and through bribery the local law enforcement. * A fellow stockcar driver in Moonrunners is named Cooter; There is little similarity between this Cooter and the TV series' character of the same name (in Moonrunners, Cooter even tries to sabotage Grady from winning a stock car race, whereas the TV Cooter was the Duke family's best friend), although the TV Cooter competed in stock car races on occasion. * Uncle Jesse is the family patriarch. In both he is a widowed, bearded moonshiner, with strong religious beliefs, raising his nephews. They also have similar costumes, with dungarees over a shirt. * Rosco Coltrane is a once honest officer, who turned to corruption with the county Boss after being cheated out of his pension. This theme carried over into the TV series, before fading away by the end of the first season. * The boys are out on probation for running moonshine. In both the film and the series they use hunting bows tipped with dynamite, since they are forbidden to use firearms. * In both the film and series, the boys have a very talented mechanic friend. The film's unseen character of Virgil (Virg) can fix cars "...so even the factory wouldn't know." In the series this characteristic was given to Cooter Davenport. * Also to note is a connection that skipped the Dukes TV series but re-appeared in the 2007 TV movie The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning. In Moonrunners, Grady is having an affair with Jake's wife; In The Beginning, Luke embarks upon a liaison with Boss Hogg's flirtatious wife Lulu, albeit as a distraction while Bo searches the house. Other names or roles were altered, while still keeping recognizable connections. White, Bryan (June 26, 2008). "Just the good ol’ boys. Never meanin’ no harm. Moonrunners".Holland, Jon (2009). "Dukes Historian"."Moonrunners Review". StarPulse.com. * In the film, Uncle Jesse and the boys have the surname Hagg. In the series their antagonist, the county boss, has the surname Hogg. * In the film Beth Ann is a woman in trouble taken in by the Haggs. The character has many similarities to Daisy Duke, who is an actual member of the family. (The casting call for Daisy even requested a blonde, a la Beth Ann; it wasn't until Catherine Bach won the part that the character was changed to brunette) * The Hagg's stockcar is named Traveller (after General Lee's horse). The Dukes' stock car is named The General Lee. * Uncle Jesse's mule in the film is named Beauregard. This name would be given to Bo (Beauregard) Duke in the TV series. Actors who appeared in Moonrunners and The Dukes of Hazzard * Ben Jones appears as Fred, a revenue agent after the boys in Moonrunners, and as their best friend Cooter Davenport in the series. * C. Pete Munro appears as "Zeebo" in Moonrunners, and as "Willie" in the season two episode "Jude Emery". * Bill Gribble appears as "Cooter" in Moonrunners, and as "Carson" in the season one episode "Daisy's Song". * Jerry Rushing appears as Jake Rainey's bodyguard in Moonrunners, and as "Ace Parker" in the season one episode "Repo Men". Filming Moonrunners was filmed during the fall of 1973 in Williamson and Haralson, Georgia. Many of the original filming locations have changed significantly since the film was produced. A comprehensive photo journal of filming locations as they exist now is part of the Hazzard County Car Club's website.Moonrunners Filming Locations by Jon Holland. Videos MOONRUNNERS (1975) TRAILER MOONRUNNERS MOONRUNNERS2 References External links * Moonrunners at the Internet Movie Database * Moonrunners at Wikipedia * [http://dukesofhazzard01.com/moonrunnerssites.htm| Moonrunners Filming Locations] at Dukes of Hazzard 01 * [http://dukesofhazzard01.com/moonrunners.html Moonrunners]'' at Dukes of Hazzard 01'' Category:Moonrunners (Film) Category:Films